Thursday, July 26, 2012

"Christmas Story, The Musical!" Coming to Broadway This Holiday Season

Christmas Story, The Musical! will arrive on Broadway at The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre just in time for the 2012 holiday season.The producers have announced that the new musical, based on the 1983 movie perennial, will play a November 5 – December 30 holiday engagement. Opening night is Monday, November 19.

America’s #1 holiday movie came to hilarious life onstage when A Christmas Story, The Musical!launched a tour in 2011 with stops in Hershey, PA; Detroit, MI; Raleigh, NC; Tampa, FL; and Chicago, IL;The musical features a bright holiday score by composer/lyricist team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a witty book by Joseph Robinette based on the writings of radio humorist Jean Shepherd and the 1983 holiday film favorite. Tony Award winner John Rando (Urinetown) directs the production with Warren Carlyle (Chaplin, Follies, An Evening With Hugh Jackman) choreographing. Casting is soon to be announced.

The Chicago Sun Times described A Christmas Story, The Musical! “an enchanting holiday gem…an altogether beguiling…luminous musical comedy,” while Variety called it “a slick, undeniably enjoyable musical,” and The Chicago Tribune heralded it as “a moving celebration of family.” The Detroit Free Press raved “the cast practically triple-dog-dares you not to enjoy yourself. Time Out Chicago predicted “A Christmas Story, The Musical! has the potential to be a new perennial favorite.”

The story from a cherished movie classic that’s enchanted millions is now a musical spectacular. In 1940’s Indiana, a bespectacled boy named Ralphie has a big imagination and one wish for Christmas—a Red Ryder BB Gun. A kooky leg lamp, outrageous pink bunny pajamas, a cranky department store Santa, and a triple-dog-dare to lick a freezing flagpole are just a few of the obstacles that stand between Ralphie and his Christmas dream. Co-produced by the film’s original Ralphie, Peter Billingsley, A Christmas Story, The Musical! is holiday entertainment that captures a simpler time in America with delicious wit and a heart of gold.